Wicklow landlord took his own life after tenants trashed his house court hears

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An inquest into the death of a County Wicklow landlord has found that he died of self inflicted stab wounds.

Noel Murphy, (48), from Moneystown, Roundwood, had trouble with tenants before his death in 2014 and suffered middle ear damage while trying to clear rubbish from the house.

The father of two had ongoing issues with tenants who were renting a property from him in Larkhill, Santry, Co Dublin, including failure to pay rent.

When they finally left at Easter 2014, the house was left trashed. While Murphy was burning rubbish from the house, a deodorant can exploded, causing damage to his ear Dublin Coroner’s Court heard on Monday.

Speaking at the inquest, Mr Murphy’s sister said that the pain in his ear had been driving him mad. She also told the court that he had been under considerable stress in the lead up to his death.

“The place was trashed, the rent was due and he still had to pay mortgage repayments. It really upset him,”

“I believe Noel was suffering financially. I think a lot of things were going against him.” she said.

The court also heard that Mr Murphy had became more subdued in the days leading up to his death. He had also tried to get work as part of a Community Employment scheme but was turned down as he had taken part in the scheme ten years previously.

On May 28th 2014, he took a kitchen knife into the bathroom of his mother’s house in Blackrock. His mother had an appointment and left the house, but when she returned she found the bathroom door locked.

She then called her daughter, who arrived in a taxi. The driver kicked in the bathroom door and found Mr Murphy, who had lacerations to the arms, wrists and neck.

A post-mortem found that he had died from a laceration of the right jugular vein. It also found that the deceased had taken high doses of paracetamol and codeine before his death.

Returning a verdict of self inflicted death, Coroner Dr Brian Farrell said : “The evidence would be that these were self inflicted wounds. He formed an intention to harm himself.”